Assessment
Assessment for schools
Schools are carrying a load they weren’t designed to carry. Private waitlists run six to eighteen months. Public services are triaged tight. Meanwhile the children in your classrooms need answers now, and the ones who need them most are usually the students whose presentations don’t fit neatly into department form checkboxes.
I contract directly to schools across Gippsland and, capacity permitting, further afield. I come to you. Assessment happens in the environment the child already trusts, with the staff who know them best contributing context you can’t get from a single clinic appointment. For a lot of these children, that matters more than the test scores do.
What’s on offer
- Cognitive. WPPSI-IV, WISC-V, WAIS-IV. Including identification of intellectual developmental disorder and giftedness.
- Academic and Specific Learning Disorder. WIAT-III, WRAT-5. Comprehensive assessment for dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia.
- Autism. ADI-R, ADOS-2, MIGDAS-2, ASRS, SRS, SP2, and others.
- ADHD, executive function, emotional and behavioural. Conners-4, BASC-3, CBCL, DIVA-5, Brown EF/A Scales, Vanderbilt, and others.
- Adaptive behaviour and functional capacity. ABAS-3, Vineland-3.
- Twice-exceptional and complex mixed presentations.
How I work
Tests are tools. They don’t formulate. Scores mean nothing without context. The work I’m interested in is the work around the instruments: the developmental history that explains the score profile, the differential thinking that distinguishes overlapping presentations, the recommendations a teacher or parent can actually use on Monday morning.
Every assessment includes intake, observations, the appropriate battery, scoring, feedback, and a written report with practical recommendations.
I assess from a neuro-affirming stance. That doesn’t mean every assessment ends in a diagnosis. It means I take the child’s experience of their own neurobiology seriously as data, and I’m careful about both over and under diagnosis. Where the picture is genuinely unclear, I’ll say so and tell you what would clarify it. Reports are written to be used by teachers, families, funding bodies, and the next clinician. Not stored.
The children who come to me have usually been through some version of this before, and the child, family, or school are struggling. That informs how I work: more time, fewer assumptions, and feedback delivered in a way that leaves you with something tangible you can hold onto.
Tests are tools. They don’t formulate. Scores mean nothing without context. The work I’m interested in is the work around the instruments: the developmental history that explains the score profile, the differential thinking that distinguishes overlapping presentations, the recommendations a teacher or parent can actually use on Monday morning.
Every assessment includes intake, observations, the appropriate battery, scoring, feedback, and a written report with practical recommendations.
I assess from a neuro-affirming stance. That doesn’t mean every assessment ends in a diagnosis. It means I take the child’s experience of their own neurobiology seriously as data, and I’m careful about both over and under diagnosis. Where the picture is genuinely unclear, I’ll say so and tell you what would clarify it. Reports are written to be used by teachers, families, funding bodies, and the next clinician. Not stored.
The children who come to me have usually been through some version of this before, and the child, family, or school are struggling. That informs how I work: more time, fewer assumptions, and feedback delivered in a way that leaves you with something tangible you can hold onto.
Engagement models
Schools typically engage me in one of three ways:
I also provide professional development to school wellbeing teams:
Understanding cognitive and academic assessments and reports, neurodevelopment, and specific learning presentations.
Schools typically engage me in one of three ways:
- Regular engagement. A number of assessment days across the school year, billed to the school.
- Per-assessment. One-off student referrals as needs arise.
- Consultation and formulation. For complex cases where the school has assessment data already but needs senior clinical input on what it means and what to do next.
I also provide professional development to school wellbeing teams:
Understanding cognitive and academic assessments and reports, neurodevelopment, and specific learning presentations.
Fees and access
I keep school-based assessment fees deliberately low.
This is an explicit ethical choice about access in rural communities, not a market position.
Families in the country shouldn’t be paying city prices for work their children need.
Fees are confirmed at contact.
Cancellations require two full business days’ notice.
I keep school-based assessment fees deliberately low.
This is an explicit ethical choice about access in rural communities, not a market position.
Families in the country shouldn’t be paying city prices for work their children need.
Fees are confirmed at contact.
Cancellations require two full business days’ notice.
Availability
Accepting school assessment referrals for the second half of 2026.
Private clinic-based referrals are closed.
→ Principals, wellbeing leads, and learning support coordinators:
email jackie @ healthwisegippsland.com.au to discuss what your school needs.
Accepting school assessment referrals for the second half of 2026.
Private clinic-based referrals are closed.
→ Principals, wellbeing leads, and learning support coordinators:
email jackie @ healthwisegippsland.com.au to discuss what your school needs.